Virginia lawmakers on Thursday rejected Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s proposed tweaks to an adult-use cannabis sales bill that included new taxes, criminal penalties and a market launch date of July 1, 2027.
As CBS affiliate WIXR reported, the move means the legislature’s original proposal returns to the governor, who must now choose whether to accept that framework – or veto it and potentially start the process all over again.
And with only a two-seat majority in the state Senate, Democratic lawmakers don’t have the votes to override a veto, Virginia Public Media reported.
When will Virginia adult-use marijuana sales begin?
Many cannabis industry lobbyists, including representatives of major marijuana multistate operators who hold Virginia’s existing vertically integrated MMJ permits, had been advocating for lawmakers to reject Spanberger’s amendments.
Virginia adult-use cannabis sales could reach $780 million in the first full calendar year of legal retail, with the billion-dollar milestone possible by the second year, according to an MJBiz Factbook projection.
But in addition to a six-month delay to the long-awaited market launch, Spanberger’s proposal also included new criminal penalties that advocates said would disproportionately affect people of color.
The first state in the South to legalize adult-use cannabis, Virginia still hasn’t seen a legal sale five years later.
Elected last November, Spanberger pledged to sign an adult-use sales bill if state lawmakers sent her one.
How many cannabis licenses will be available in Virginia?
Under the legislation the General Assembly passed earlier in the spring, sales would have begun Jan. 1, 2027.
Key provisions in the assembly’s sales bill included:
- A state tax rate of 6%, with an additional local option of up to 3.5%
- Capping retail licenses at 350
Among the changes that Spanberger countered with were:
- A launch date of July 1, 2027
- A retail cap of 200 until at least Jan. 1, 2029
- A state sales tax rate of 6% that would automatically increase to 8% in July 2029
Spanberger’s plan allowed the state’s five existing medical cannabis operators to enter the adult-use market after paying a $10 million conversion fee, either in full or in installments, by May 1, 2027.
